Seedlings
by happy29
Summary: Episode Tag for season 7x23. Danny finally makes his way home and discovers a few things along the way. I loved this episode and it was so great to see what led up to Danny getting drafted by Steve to join Five-O. This is my missing scene. I hope you all enjoy my version. There have been so many great ones already written!


Danny shut the door to the Camaro and clicked the lock button on the remote. He paused in the drive-way and inhaled deeply to help settle his still raging nerves. It had been a hell of a day. Makino was now safe and his final case with HPD had been officially closed. Well, second to last case. Steve McGarrett officially stole his _last_ case from him by agreeing to head up the Governor's task special force, which turned out to be Danny's first official case for Five-O.

Danny walked past Steve's truck and noticed the damage to the front end. He was glad he didn't have to pay the insurance premiums on that thing. He chuckled softly to himself. The insurance premiums on his own vehicle and all the damage it had sustained over the years was enough to make him want to find a new line of work. Retirement was sounding better and better, at least for the sake of his car. But he knew that wasn't what he was ready for at this moment. Steve was right. He would miss it. He would miss helping people like Makino who risked their own lives in the first place. He could never give the man his life back, Danny knew that. But he could make the world a safer place by continuing what he was good at and that was being a cop. When you're considering hanging it up, it's nice to be reminded that you are good at your job and that maybe, just _maybe_ you shouldn't throw in the towel just yet. He was touched when Tanaka told him he was a good cop. As far as he ever knew, he was just a thorn in his old Captain's side. It was nice to be reminded that wasn't the case after all. He sometimes wished he had worked harder at trying to fit in with his other colleagues, rather than bucking the system on a regular basis, but Danny knew that just wasn't him. He wasn't a follower and he didn't go with the flow. No, Danny Williams was… what was it that Steve once said about Grace?

' _She's scrappy, stubborn, hot headed, loyal to a fault. She's you, pal.'_

Danny grinned proudly. Yes. He was all of those things and there was nothing wrong with that.

There was a soft glow of flickering lights coming from the living room which meant one of two things. Either Steve was watching television or he was passed out on the couch, the TV inadvertently left on. At this time of night, he knew his kids would have been in bed hours ago. Even if Grace had managed to give Steve one of her ever present stall tactics she'd been mastering over the course of the last few years, at one in the morning she too would have succumbed to much needed sleep as well. Danny rubbed his forehead and winced. Last time he had glanced in a mirror, an angry looking bruise was starting to form where the nurse had decked him with the metal tray. He scrubbed a hand across his chest. The more he thought about it, his ribcage wasn't feeling much better. Now that adrenaline from the day had started to wear off, the fight no longer in him, he was starting to feel the effects of the day in his sore and tense muscles. His dad told him once, you don't hit girls. His dad never met the ninja lady. He had learned over the years, there were exceptions to every rule.

He quietly made his way into the house, not wanting to startle Steve if he was awake or wake him up if he happened to be sleeping. The aroma of coffee filled his senses and he was glad Steve had made a pot of coffee. He was still too wired from the events of the day to crawl straight into bed. Despite how tired his body actually was, his brain was still in over-drive. He toed off his shoes and tip-toed around the couch. Sure enough, Steve was out like a light, snoring softly, stretched out the length of the sofa, his sock-clad feet hanging off the end. Danny smiled warmly at his partner and resisted the urge to cover him with a blanket. He clicked off the television effectively silencing the infomercial on gold.

He padded down the hallway toward the kids' rooms. Poking his head into Grace's room, he found her sound asleep. After Rachel's split with Stan, Grace had been spending more time at Danny's. He wasn't sure why and he didn't want to press either Rachel or Grace for a reason. Maybe she wanted to be around something that was stable at the moment and for her that meant Danny. He pulled the covers up to her neck and kissed her forehead. "Night, kiddo," he whispered before retreating quietly to Charlie's room.

Charlie's room was empty when he had left earlier in the day, save for an unassembled bed and a few sheets of wall paper border that Steve had managed to apply. He leaned against the open doorway and stared in wonder. Charlie's room was complete. Just as he and Steve had talked about two weeks prior. Tears threatened to spill over as he surveyed the room, completely decorated. Steve must have spent the rest of the day while he was at the hospital with Makino finishing up the room. He scrubbed a hand down his face and took a deep breath, fighting back the emotions. Sliding his feet across the floor so he didn't wake his son, Danny made his way to the bed and repeated what he did for Grace. Pull the covers up, kiss his forehead. Danny paused when Charlie stirred in his sleep. "Goodnight, Charlie."

Danny shoved his hands deep into his pockets and made his way towards the rich aroma of coffee. He debated waking Steve so he could talk and thank him for today or let him sleep and catch him in the morning. The decision was made for him when he entered the kitchen and briefly startled when he saw Steve by the coffee pot pouring the liquid gold into two mugs.

"Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah," Steve managed through a yawn. "I heard you when you went into Gracie's room."

"You didn't have to get up." Danny accepted the mug of coffee and held it up in appreciation. "But thank you."

Steve leaned against the counter and took a long sip from his own mug, the caffeine helping his brain wake up. "Everything go alright with your witness?"

Danny moved to the dining room and motioned for Steve to follow. He pulled out a chair and lowered his tired body into its embrace. The coffee mug before him was steaming and Danny rolled it through his hands, stealing its warmth. "Yeah, it went okay. Makino will be safe now and HPD is looking in to see if he has any family."

"That's great. I hope he has someone out there for him." Steve sat down across from Danny and studied his partner. There were several bruises on his face that he didn't notice earlier. He reached his hand out and touched Danny's forearm. "Hey," he wiggled his finger in the air, motioning to the bruises on Danny's face. "You okay?"

"Huh?" Danny was momentarily confused until he realized what Steve was talking about. "Oh yeah, that. Yeah. I'm okay." He really was sore and popping a few Advil probably wouldn't be a bad idea. He scrubbed a hand across his chest and coughed.

"You sure about that?" Steve questioned.

"Yeah. Although I should probably take some Advil or something."

"Where's it at?" Steve scooted his chair back and was already on his feet before Danny could begin to protest.

Danny was about to argue that he could get it himself but relented and let the fight die before it even began. "Third cupboard to the left, top shelf. Next to the Flintstone vitamins."

"You want a Flintstone as well?" Steve teased as he shook three pills out into his hand and returned to the table, handing them off to his partner. "Let me grab you some water to chase them down instead of the coffee."

"Thank you. And no," Danny shot over his shoulder at Steve's retreating form. "I don't want a Flintstone. I need something _stronger_ than a Flintstone," he mumbled to himself. He rubbed at his chest and coughed against the rising pain.

"You sure you're okay?" Steve asked as he settled a hand on Danny's shoulder.

"Yeah. Crazy Ninja bitch kicked me in the chest before she tried choking the life out of me. Wrestling around on the floor would have been a lot more fun if she wasn't trying to kill me in the process," Danny griped. He lowered the collar of his t-shirt to reveal an equally angry purple bruise forming around the base of his throat. "Lucky for me, she dropped the syringe she was going to inject into Makino when she bashed me in the face with that metal tray." Danny cocked an eyebrow and grinned wide. "Believe me, she had it coming. Bitch didn't know what hit her."

Steve didn't look amused. "Maybe we should incorporate some hand to hand combat training for everyone."

Danny's eyebrows knitted together before he broke out laughing. "Yeah. Good luck with that. Getting Lou and Jerry to go along with that idea may be tricky. Although, I do admit it is a good idea. You know," Danny twirled his hand in the air for added emphasis. "After my recent encounter with ninja lady." He looked down at his untouched coffee and began rolling the mug through his hands once more before glancing back up at Steve who had reclaimed the chair opposite him. "Thank you for the back-up today."

Steve nodded quietly. "You're welcome, buddy."

Danny grew quiet and somber as he wrestled with the proper words. "I don't mean with just the job, you know? Thanks for the help with Charlie's room and putting his bed together when I was dumb enough to throw out the instructions."

Steve smiled. "I had to dig them out of the trash to figure that thing out myself."

Danny grinned and then his smile faded. "Thank you. I wish I could have seen his face when he saw it."

"I caught it all on video with my phone, just for you."

Danny stared in amazement at his partner. "I can't wait to see it."

Steve made a move to pull out his phone but Danny stopped him. "In a few minutes, okay? I uh, I wanted you to know how much I appreciate you coming back here and finishing off his room when you didn't have to. I could have done it tomorrow. And for being here when Rachel dropped the kids off so I could spend some time with Makino making sure he was settled."

"You're welcome, Danny. And I had a little help with the room. I can't take all the credit for it. Kono and Chin popped over to help for a few hours before the kids got here."

"Charlie's room," Danny stared at his untouched coffee, running his index finger around the rim of the mug. When he finally managed to speak, his voice was soft and quiet and Steve had to lean forward to catch what Danny was saying. "It's amazing. Thank you." He lowered his head and sniffled, tears threatening to fall from moist eyes. "You didn't have to do that. You know?" His crisp blue eyes locked onto Steve's. "Thank you for being an Uncle to my kids."

"I love your kids, Danny."

"I know you do." Danny ran his finger around the rim of the mug once again. "I told Makino it would be nice if he woke up so he could meet the people who helped save his life. Meet my _'family'_."

Steve could only nod. He knew they were Ohana, always told Danny he was Ohana, but to hear him say it himself… that meant something special.

"I told Makino if it weren't for him, I would have never met you. And if it weren't for Five-O, I don't know where I would be today."

"What do you mean?" Steve questioned.

"I don't know. I was barely hanging on at HPD. My Captain was constantly giving me grief along with all of my colleagues because I was a haole. All I was trying to do was forge my own path, attempting to throw down some anchors for the sake of my daughter. I hated it here. I hated everything about this place except for the fact that this was where my daughter was and those few precious minutes a week I got to spend with her were the only things that kept me relatively sane."

"I didn't know that HPD gave you so much grief."

"Well they did. Every day with the bottles of sun block and the comments about my ties and dress shirts. My partner Meka bought the first bottle of sunblock. I was bitter and angry because everyone wanted me to be like them. These people were my colleagues and they treated me like the band geek wanting to join the football team. Why should I have to change who I am to fit in? I do that, then I end up losing myself and becoming someone I'm not. And for what? To give myself another reason to hate this place."

"I'm sorry, Danny." Steve knew his apology could never take back the way his partner was treated. "I didn't help matters any either when I started in about the ties."

Danny shook his head and finally took a drink of his coffee. "I didn't want Grace to like it here. I didn't want her to have sleepover invites or friends or get involved in the cheerleading squad. I wanted her to hate it as much as I did so Rachel would move her back to New Jersey where her family was. I missed home. I missed _my_ family. I missed coaching my nieces little league teams. I missed my brother bringing pizza over on Thursday nights. I wanted to go home."

Steve listened silently as Danny spilled this new information. He always knew Danny hated it here, but he never stopped to really figure out why.

"You know." Danny spun his mug around and pointed a finger in Steve's direction. "I hated you so much back then."

Steve nodded. "I know." It was a hard pill to swallow.

"I mean I hated you as much as I hated Rachel. You forcing me onto your task force was like going through my divorce all over again." Danny closed his eyes as he remembered running into Steve the first time in his father's garage. "My captain had just taken me off Makino's case and assigned me to your father's homicide. I was at his house seeing if anything had been missed on the initial walk through. _'Fresh eyes'_ I believe Tanaka said to me." Danny tugged on his ear and cleared his throat before continuing. "Punching you in the face that first day I met you was the first bought of real satisfaction I had had in six months."

Steve fingered his jawline remembering the punch. For a small guy, Danny Williams could knock you on your ass. "Just out of idle curiosity, when did you stop hating me?"

Danny quirked an eyebrow, a smirk spreading across his lips. "Stop?" he teased. "Oh, I still hate you on occasion." The smirk left his face and he grew serious. "But the real hate dissipated a long time ago." He gave Steve a warm smile, reassuring him. "I don't know when it happened but somewhere along the way, _you_ became _my_ family. All of you guys… Chin, Kono, Grover, Jerry. But mostly _you_. If anything happened to you, it would destroy me."

Again Steve remained silent. He had a feeling he knew what he meant to Danny because Danny meant the same thing to him.

"It didn't happen overnight, me liking you. You would pull some asinine stunt and I'd hate you all over again. And then the thing with Rachel happened and I actually got the chance to go home with her and Grace and I end up getting myself tangled up in your obsession with putting Wofat behind bars. God I hated you. But then I couldn't force myself to leave. I couldn't leave to let you face that alone. And then the stupid things you did that made me hate you were replaced by things that made me like you a little more."

"Oh yeah?"

"You didn't have to give Gracie and I those days at the Hilton so she wasn't cooped up in my tiny apartment. That was one of those moments when I knew you weren't so bad after all. You didn't have to come to Columbia with me to get Matt back. We both know that was suicidal. But you had my back." Danny leaned forward and folded his arms in front of him on the table. His coffee long forgotten. "All of those moments were like seeds, developing a root system, giving me something to hold me here."

"I love you, Danny. You're my closest friend. I would do anything for you and your kids."

"The day of Gracie's winter formal…"

"Yeah." Steve smiled fondly. "You brought over sandwiches and left."

"Which you promptly stole credit for, you Neanderthal. Have you no shame?"

"I said I was sorry like a half a dozen times after the fact."

"I know. And thank you for setting the record straight. Anyway, you came in after clearing the ball room and the first name you called out was for my Grace. You didn't call out for me or Grover's kid. You needed to know that Gracie was ok. That's when I knew what _I_ meant to you, what _my_ family meant to you."

"I had to make sure she was okay. If she was okay, I knew you were going to be okay because you wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"And then you snooped in my office and invaded my privacy and I hated you all over again. Because I wasn't ready to talk to you about retiring. And then you drag me through a jungle in a rickety old truck with a bomb on the back of it and I kept wondering how the hell we were going to make it out of that one. And I was wracking my brain trying to remember why I even _liked_ you, let alone _love_ you when you flipped the damn thing giving me the worst case of whiplash ever. And out of the blue… you ask me to name my restaurant _'Steve's'._

"Right, so if we weren't going to be working together, then you know, we could still be together in spirit, so to speak."

"And I knew. I really knew then…"

Steve's eyes grew wide. "Wait… you _love_ me?"

"Yes, you dope, that's what I'm trying to say. _I love you_."

"What about Melissa?"

"I love you the way I should love her. I get that now." Danny pushed his chair backwards and stood up, making his way around the table. Steve turned in his chair and met Danny full on. Danny knocked Steve's knees with his own and stepped in between his spread legs. He placed his hands on either side of Steve's face and leaned forward and lightly brushed his lips against his partner's.

Steve reacted by slipping his hands behind Danny's neck and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss.

When they broke for air, Danny rested his head against Steve's forehead and let out a long shaky breath.

"I can't promise that I won't hate you from time to time. But that hate won't be anything compared to the love I have for you."


End file.
